Chapter 3 Part 1 Why Is Fornication So Bad?

“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does
is outside the body, but he who commits sexual
immorality sins against his own body.”
1 Corinthians 6:18

According to the bible fornication causes us to sin against ourselves, against our own bodies. It opens our bodies to the very nature of sin. It allows demons to use our bodies against themselves. It also brings the contamination of sin into our bodies; sexual sin opens our bodies up to the disease of sin like nothing else. It causes us to view our bodies with contempt, instead of the temples of God that they were created to be. When we are going against our own bodies this can only breed contempt. We are at war with ourselves. My own body is being used against me, against my will. The bible says that a house divided against itself will not stand. How can I stand for God when my body is divided against itself? The bible goes on to say that our bodies are no longer our own, they have been purchased for a price. They now belong to God. Of course in truth they were always God’s. My body houses the Holy Spirit of God.

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple
of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you
have from God, and you are not your own.”
1 Corinthians 6:19

The apostle Paul goes on to state that our bodies are members of Christ and shall we join the members of Christ with a harlot? Certainly not! Are we to unite the Spirit of God to perversion? God forbid! Fornication reduces my status as a person in my own mind. I lose respect for myself, my body, and the other person when I fornicate. You profane the temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body becomes a toll against itself. Many times I have awaken in the morning laying next to someone I didn’t even know and felt perverted. What do I say to this person I do not know? It all felt so awkward on a deep spiritual level. Yet we just shared the most intimate moment two people can share according to God. There is something wrong here, my thinking is not right. We have taken something good and honorable and have turned it into something cheap and tawdry. There is no love without commitment. Without love, the sex act is just a common act between two beasts in the field. However, even the beasts of the field take care of their offspring. Animals after procreating, at least raise their young. Are our young any less important? God thinks not.

Let’s look at the cost of fornication on our people and society.
1) Loss of innocence and purity
2) Violation of God’s law
3) Illegitimate children
4) Guilt
5) Sexual diseases
6) Lack of respect
7) Deterioration of society
8) Violence
9) Loss of usefulness to God
10) Anger of the children

1) Loss of innocence and purity

“To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled
and unbelieving nothing is pure, but even their minds and
a conscience are defiled.”
Titus 1:15

It is God’s plan that we come to our marriages pure in body and heart. In God’s healthy plan of marriage and relationships being pure is highly valued. According to the bible, any woman who married and was found not to be a virgin would be stoned. The woman is the vessel by which life comes into this world. How are things brought into this world? They are borne into it. In order for Jesus to be fully human, He had to be borne into this world, thus the need for Mary. Therefore, it is for all things. A woman’s body is one of her most precious gifts. Only a woman in natural sexual activity is penetrated, this gives the woman a very different perspective on the sexual act. For a man the act of sex is external due to his organs and thus his attitude towards sex reflects that. A woman due to her physical organs is usually more conservative concerning sexual matters than men. Women usually require an emotional connection for sexual activity. Because of the emotional nature of the sex act to a woman, it tends to have more meaning. Women tend to have more of an attachment to their partner than men do. I remember every female virgin I ever “deflowered” had a deeply emotional attachment unlike any other of the women I was with. In some cases, that attachment may even persist to this day. Losing that purity and innocence can have a lifetime effect for not only the woman, but also the man. We live in a society that only promotes the pleasure of sex without the commitment of love and marriage. Our moral standards have been compromised.

Chapter 1 What is Fornication?

CHAPTER 1

What Is Fornication?


The Greek word translated "sexual immorality" is porneia. The Hebrew word for fornication is “zanah”. It is used to describe many forms of sexual misconduct. The term fornication is also used to encompass many types of unhealthy sexual relationships outside of marriage. It can include premarital sexual relationships, homosexual acts, incest, prostitution, lust, rape, and bestiality. It can also be used in a metaphoric sense in the Bible to mean a forsaking of God.

The Princeton wordnet internet dictionary defines fornication as voluntary sexual intercourse between persons not married. It also includes adultery in its definition as extramarital sex that willfully and maliciously interferes with marriage relations.

"If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her,
he shall surely pay the bride price for her to be his wife."
Exodus 22:16

The Bible says that when a man takes (has sex with) a virgin he has to pay a price and marry her. Moreover, he cannot divorce her for as long as he lives. The Bible says that he has “humbled” her. In other words, he has humiliated her and caused her to feel shame. How many of our young women today feel “humiliated” by their virginity being taken? The family and the bridegroom were supposed to present the bride as pure before God and the community. When she has been violated, the violator has not only taken her honor but the honor of her family as well. These ideas may seem trivial in our modern day world, but they are still relevant. The reason they are relevant is that a man values purity even though he is the very one trying to defile it. We have many instances where men upon getting knowledge of a female loved one being violated cannot face the loved one. Most people believe that it is because he feels shame for the loved one, but actually, it is the opposite. The man feels ashamed because he could not protect the loved one; I speak from personal experience. Even in a lot of cases where the loved one was a willing participant many men still feel a sense of shame and blame the man for “enticing the female.

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to
his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
Genesis 2:24

For the purpose of this book, we are going to use the definition of sexual relationships outside of marriage for fornication. As we see, indiscriminate sex was never God’s plan for us. God's Divine Plan throughout the scriptures has involved a man and a woman in matrimony. We see that from the beginning of time it was that way and continues to today. Some will say that times have changed. That was thousands of years ago. It does not matter; according to God; His Word always remains the same. Unlike our frequently changing society, God remains the same.

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words
will by no means pass away."
Matthew 24:35

Marriage was given to a man and a woman to raise a family. Nowhere is a family presented as a single male or female except in the case of death. A family in the sight of God has always been and always will be a male and a female parent raising children. Now does that mean God will not bless single parents? Of course not! However, we should remember it is we, who have perverted God's plan, not God changing His plans. There have been a number of outstanding single parent households, but let us understand this was not God's design. God has taken a bad situation and used it for His glory. However, make no mistake this in no way changes or modifies God original plan. We should not continue to believe that God will allow us to blatantly defy His revealed Word simply because it does not fit into our current lifestyles and mores. God was not created in our image, as many would have us to believe, we were created in His image. How can the clay dictate to the potter what vessel should be made? Does not the potter have power over the clay to create whatever He chooses with the clay?

I look forward to your comments...